07/30/2025

The Unmeasurable Life

Too often, data replaces wonder

"I see your smartphone-addicted life," wrote Franklin Schneider in a June 2025 Atlantic article. His take: He's never owned a smartphone and isn't sure he wants to own one. As a speech-language pathologist and consultant, I see his point; while I have a smartphone and use it, I've been finding that the flattening he talks about goes far deeper.

As someone who started as a poet, grew up camping in the Georgia mountains and sliding down waterfalls, I have begun to think how much sensory experience—people's lived experiences—are being lost in this flattening to data. So much is lost in translation. Smartphones come with scrolling and, more importantly and insidiously, data. We can track our heartbeats, health and every step. We stop looking and stop experiencing.

What we measure becomes what we talk about and celebrate, but at what cost to our fuller understanding of human experience?

Please select this link to read the complete article from Psychology Today.